


Not So Lonely At The Top After All

by AXEe



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Episode Style, F/M, Fluff and Humor, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23506882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Direct sequel to "Lonely At The Top"
Relationships: Alara Kitan/Ed Mercer
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	Not So Lonely At The Top After All

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be a short sequel. Now it's not

******

The bridge on the _Orville_ was a pretty relaxed place all things considered. Kelly knew that some captains ran tight ships but she was still a little surprised at Ed’s relaxed attitude, that being said it seemed to make him seem more approachable to the crew, and plus it was just nice to actually _enjoy_ coming onto the bridge for your duty shift.

Kelly herself had been on the bridge for about five minutes already before Ed hurried in.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized as he sat down “sorry, everybody”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Kelly dismissed. She frowned at him “not like you to be late,” she noted “hot date last night?” she teased.

“No,” Ed took a sip from his coffee mug “maybe tonight though” he grinned.

Kelly returned the grin.

“Hey, good for you,” she grinned “anybody I know?” she wondered.

Ed suddenly froze like the proverbial deer in the headlights, coffee mug halfway to his mouth.

“Uh…no, no, no one you know”

“You liar,” she accused “come on, you can tell me”

“Kelly, I swear, it’s nobody you know,” he insisted “seriously, she’s, she’s new. Just arrived last week”

“There’s no one new onboard”

“Yes there is”

“No, there isn’t,” Kelly insisted “hey, Alara,” she called out “did anybody new come aboard last week?”

Alara turned, frowning.

“Uh, no,” she answered “why do you ask?”

“Oh Ed here says that he’s got a hot date tonight with some new crewmember” Kelly explained.

Alara’s face suddenly went blank.

“I see” she said stiffly, turning back to her console.

To Kelly’s right, Ed groaned.

Kelly turned to him, eyes wide as she put two and two together and came up with a resounding four.

“Oh god,” she exclaimed as she realized her mistake. She looked between him and Alara “oh…wow”

“Shh!” Ed hissed “thanks a lot by the way”

“Well how the hell was I supposed to know?” she hissed back “you were the one going _‘oh, she’s new, you don’t know her’_. Why didn’t you just say who it was?”

“Because I didn’t want to ruin it!” he hissed. He stood up, grumbling darkly as he stalked out of the room, Kelly following him…

******

Marching into his office a few minutes later, Kelly took a breath.

“I’m sorry,” she said without preamble “I didn’t mean to embarrass you back there”

“Well you did”

“Ed…” she sighed.

He sighed back before tiredly leaning back in his chair. Taking it as her cue to sit down Kelly grabbed one of the chairs and sat down.

“So, how did this all start?” she wondered.

“Last night,” he began “we bumped into each other in the mess hall, got to talking. She was complaining about how she can’t find a date because all the men on this ship are apparently a bunch of pigs who feel emasculated because she’s stronger than all of them combined, I said that I wasn’t—”

“Wait, you actually said that you weren’t emasculated by that?” Kelly interrupted.

“No,” he sighed “actually, I said that I found her strength a turn-on” he admitted.

“Wow, and she didn’t run away from the room screaming?”

“Hey, some women _do_ find me attractive you know?” he huffed “you were one of them”

“Sorry. Continue”

“Anyway,” he sighed “after that we decided to have dinner tonight and…see what happens,” he toyed with his coffee mug “I’m going to do a cartwheel” he muttered.

“Sorry, what?” Kelly asked.

“Oh, last night, to get her to open up, I told her that if she told me what was bothering her I’d do a cartwheel across the room” he explained.

“Ed, you can’t do cartwheels”

“Really?” he asked “that’s your takeaway from all of this? I can’t do cartwheels?”

“Well you can’t,” she pointed out “look,” she sighed “I don’t care what you and Alara do afterhours, so long as it doesn’t affect the ship. So…go on that date”

“Yeah, fat chance of that happening now” Ed muttered as the doors to his office slid open.

“Oh,”

Alara stood in the doorway. She looked at Kelly, who looked at Ed, who looked back at Kelly, who looked back at Alara, and suddenly the room was as silent as a tomb.

“I’ll…just…come back” Alara muttered, beginning to back out of the room.

“Alara, wait,” Kelly called. As Alara awkwardly came back inside, Kelly gestured for her sit down “talk” she told her and Ed before slipping out.

Now alone in the room with Alara, Ed awkwardly drummed his fingers on the desktop. Finally, he took the plunge.

“The hot date that Kelly mentioned is with you” he said simply.

Alara blinked.

“Oh,” she said softly “so, there’s not…?”

“No, no, oh god no,” Ed frantically shook his head “I just told her that to try to avoid embarrassing you. Which, as you can see, didn’t work,” he sighed “so…still want to have dinner?” he wondered awkwardly.

“Yes,” Alara nodded “I do”

Ed let out a sigh of relief, which caused them to both burst into a fit of giggles.

“OK, this is, this is good,” Ed nodded “we can laugh about this, that’s very good” he grinned 

“So…we’re still on for tonight?” Alara asked uncertainly.

“Definitely” Ed nodded. Feeling bold, he reached out across the desk, smiling when she put her hands in his own, lightly lacing their fingers together.

“Cool” she grinned.

“Cool,” Ed grinned back “so, I wasn’t sure where you’d want to go for dinner,” he began “uh, we can go to the simulator, lot of nice restaurants programed in. _Or_ …” he trailed off.

“Or…?” she asked.

“Or…we could have dinner in my quarters,” Ed suggested hesitantly “or your quarters! Doesn’t matter” he added quickly.

They both broke out into another fit of giggles.

“So?” Ed asked as they got ahold of the giggles.

“Oh, um,” Alara frowned “hmm…the simulator doesn’t really have much privacy when you think about it,” she began “especially if Gordon and John have reservations”

“Oh god, tell me about it,” Ed groaned “OK, so we’ll axe the simulator,” he decided “so that leaves either of our quarters, or…the mess hall”

“Mess hall’s still too public,” Alara decided, shaking her head “worse than the simulator”

“OK, that’s out too then,” Ed sighed “well, that just leaves your quarters or mine. On the one hand, the chief of security meeting the captain for a late-night talk isn’t too weird,” he frowned “hang on, do we _want_ to keep this quiet?” he wondered.

“I think we should,” Alara nodded “at least until we’re sure about everything”

“I was thinking that too,” Ed nodded “so, your place or mine?”

Alara groaned.

“You’ve been waiting to say that haven’t you?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Ed grinned “so?” he asked.

“ _Bridge to Captain Mercer_ ”

They both jumped at the sudden hail.

“Uh, sorry, hang on,” reluctantly pulling his hands away from Alara’s, Ed answered the hail “what is it?” he snapped.

“ _We’re approaching the Ne’li-Capli border zone,_ ” Kelly answered “ _the delegates are just about to come aboard_ ”

Ed sighed, tiredly rubbing at his forehead.

“Right, right,” he muttered “uh, OK, bring ‘em aboard, I’ll be right there,” closing the channel, he turned to Alara as he stood up.

“Duty calls” he smirked as she followed him out of the room…

******

Rounding the corner, Alara frowned.

“So _why_ are we here again?” she wondered.

“These chuckleheads have been at war for centuries,” Ed sighed “the Ne’li say that the Capli started it, the Capli say that the Ne’li started it. Honestly I don’t even know why they’ve bothered to call in the Union to broker a truce”

“Maybe they’re finally tired of all the fighting” Alara suggested.

“Maybe,” Ed shrugged as they reached the shuttle bay “guess we’ll find out” he muttered as they stepped into the shuttle bay.

And walked into a virtual warzone.

The two parties of ambassadors had their weapons drawn and pointed at the other. Fortunately, it looked like no one had fired yet, but that could change any moment.

“Thieving scum!” the Ne’li ambassador—a tall, burly wolf-like being—sneered.

The Capli ambassador, a shorter, thinner, foxlike being, bared her teeth.

“Entitled Ne’li brute!” she spat.

“OK!” Ed called out, slowly clapping his hands together “why don’t we all just calm down, folks?”

The two aliens glanced at him and then, reluctantly, lowered their weapons and turned them over to the security team.

“OK, that’s better,” Ed nodded “now, look, we don’t want to start another war, right? So, Ne’li, you guys to the left, Capli, to the right. You’re both on opposite sides of the ship, you won’t even have to see each other until the negotiations” he promised.

Both looking doubtful, the two ambassadors and their aides reluctantly followed the security teams out of the room…

******

“See you’ve got the delegates to stop from killing each other” Kelly noted about half an hour later as she sat down across from Ed in his office.

“Yeah,” he sighed “I figured I’ll give ‘em both a few hours to cool off before trying to get them to talk”

“Should be interesting,” Kelly shrugged “Alara tells me that they were ready to shoot each other in the shuttle bay”

“Yeah,” Ed sighed “oh,” he sat up “you talked to Alara?” he asked.

“Yeah” she nodded.

“And everything’s…?”

“Its fine,” Kelly dismissed, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes “we’re not a pair of teenagers, Ed, even if there was a problem—which there isn’t—I’d like to think that we’d both be professional about it” she explained.

“So I’m not going to have to worry about the two of you trying to throttle each other?” he asked.

This time Kelly _did_ roll her eyes.

“What does she see in you exactly?”

“You know, I have no idea” he admitted as a hail came over the comm.

“ _Security to Captain Mercer,_ ” Alara hailed “ _the ambassadors just saw each other in the mess hall_ ” she announced.

“We’ll be right there” Ed called back, he and Kelly already out the door…

******

Entering the mess hall, Ed and Kelly were treated to the sight of Alara holding each of the ambassadors off the floor in one hand at arms’ length from one another. They both kicked at empty air as they struggled in her iron grip, each cursing up a storm.

Grunting, Alara lifted them both high up above her head and then forcibly dropped them each into a chair, the two chairs toppling from the impact.

“ _Both of you!! Sit down!!_ ” she roared.

“Well,” Kelly sighed as she looked towards Ed “at least we know what _you_ in her”

“Ha-ha,” he deadpanned as he approached the two ambassadors “ladies, is there going to be a problem here?” he asked.

“Union scum!” the Capli ambassador spat “you dare to let this brute to occupy the same space as us?!!”

“All right!” Ed yelled “OK, look, if you’d like, we can organize a schedule for you both, the Ne’li eat at one time, the Capli at the other,” he suggested “besides why are you even here anyway? Your quarters both have food synthesizers”

“Synthetic swill!” the Ne’li ambassador spat.

“For once, brute, we are in agreement” the Capli ambassador retorted.

“Say that again to my face, thief!”

“Hey! Hey!” Ed yelled “both of you! Chill out!” he pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning “OK, Commander Greyson why don’t you escort the Ne’li ambassador back to her quarters, Lt. Kitan and I will escort the Capli ambassador”

“Aye, sir,” Kelly nodded, swiftly grabbing the Ne’li ambassador by the arm and giving her a sharp tug “come on”

“All right,” Ed sighed, turning to the Capli ambassador “you, with us” he ordered…

******

The journey back to the Capli ambassador’s quarters was tense but thankfully quiet and Ed breathed a sigh of relief as the doors slid shut behind the ambassador.

“Ay,” he groaned “these people are _nuts_ ”

“Reminds me of dinner with my parents” Alara muttered.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Ed chuckled “I think your parents probably have better manners than these nuts”

“Probably,” she nodded as they headed back towards the lift. As they stepped inside, she jumped as he suddenly turned to her “wha, what are you doing?” she asked.

“You got…,” Ed absently brushed a bit of hair out of her face “there”

“Oh. Thanks” she murmured.

“You know, we still haven’t decided on where to have dinner” Ed pointed out.

“Oh. Right” she nodded.

“You’re not…having second thoughts, are you?” he asked.

“No, no, no,” she answered quickly “just got…distracted with…everything”

“Ugh, tell me about it,” Ed muttered as the lift stopped and they got out. Looking down the corridor, Ed frowned “you know,” he began “my quarters are closer,” he pointed out “no pressure,” he added quickly “up to you,” he shrugged “just figured, you know, we’re both tired…” he trailed off

Smirking shyly, she offered him a hand, lightly lacing their fingers together again when he took her hand.

Entering his quarters, Ed gestured towards the sofa.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he told her as he turned to the food synthesizer “something to drink?”

“Oh, uh, Xelayan tequila”

Requesting the drink and a beer for himself, Ed carried the glass over to her.

“So,” he began as he sat down across from her on the coffee table “what do Xelayans do for a first date anyway?” he wondered “I mean, is there talking? Dancing? You dance?”

“Not me,” Alara shook her head “I’m always worried that I’m going to…you know…”

“Snap your partner like a twig?” Ed suggested.

“Something like that,” she nodded. Setting her now-empty glass down, she leaned forwards towards him “you really aren’t bothered by my strength?” she asked.

“Nope,” Ed shook his head “don’t care”

“Seriously?” she asked.

“Seriously,” he nodded “so,” he awkwardly rubbed his hands together “I’m trying to think of good first date questions,” he admitted “um…well, you already know most my backstory; I’m divorced, pushing forty and I work with my ex-wife who I caught cheating on me with a Retepsian. Who, by the way, I _also_ slept with myself thanks to his stupid sex pheromones,”

He downed a gulp of beer.

“Your turn”

“Oh, I, I, I didn’t sleep with Darulio” Alara stammered out.

“What? No!” Ed stared at her “no, no, I meant, you know, I told you about myself, so now you tell me about yourself”

“Oh,” Alara cringed “right. Sorry”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Ed assured her “really, nobody’s perfect,” he grinned “so?”

“Well,” she began “not much to tell really,” she shrugged “I’m the youngest of two, my older sister is a PhD—which my parents never let me forget—and I’m…,” she trailed off, frowning “I guess you could say that I’m the black sheep” she concluded.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Ed dismissed “black sheep are different; they stand out from everybody else,” he leaned forward “I mean I know I wouldn’t like to be like everybody else. Would you?”

“No,” she said slowly “I wouldn’t”

“There, see? We’re making progress already,” Ed grinned “told you, you and me, we’re going to get along great”

“Yeah,” she agreed softly “so, what’s for dinner?” she wondered.

“Well, what would you like?” Ed countered.

“You know, I’ve never actually had pickles,” Alara remarked “I mean, I know what they are, I’ve seen them, but I’ve never actually eaten them” she explained.

“You’re kidding,” Ed exclaimed “seriously? Never?”

“No, never”

“OK, this is history in the making here,” getting up, Ed went back to the synthesizer “pickles, variety,”

A large platter shimmered into existence, a variety of pickles artfully arranged. Picking it up, Ed carried it over to the coffee table like an old-fashioned waiter, setting it down before joining Alara on the sofa.

“OK, let’s see, what do we got here?” he carefully scanned the platter “we’ve got…sweet, sour, spicy, kosher—these are good—mixed pickles—little bit of everything, carrots, onions, you know—ooh, pickled tomatoes, love these things,” he popped one of the bright red fruits into his mouth “hmm, the only downside of eating pickles is your breath stinks,” he explained around said pickled tomato “go on, take your pick,” he encouraged “go on”

“Hmm…” frowning, Alara carefully examined the platter, finally selecting a small, stubby green one, popping it into her mouth.

“And?” Ed asked, watching as she suddenly coughed, spitting the pickle back up into her hand.

“Hot!” she exclaimed, fanning her mouth.

Ed looked down at the platter.

“Oh, you must’ve grabbed a spicy one,” getting up, he hurried over to the synthesizer, quickly coming back with a full glass of milk “here, drink this,” snatching the glass from him, she downed the contents in one go, gasping for breath “you OK?” Ed asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded “wow, that just…snuck up me” she panted out.

“Yeah, must’ve have,” Ed nodded “here,” he grabbed the platter and turned it sideways “we’ll just avoid everything on that side”

“Yeah,” she nodded as she plucked up one of the tomatoes and gave it a cautious nibble, nodding to herself as she popped the rest of it into her mouth “sorry, not the best first impression” she apologized.

“Nah,” Ed shook his head “it’s fine, really,” he grinned. He clapped his together “tell you what, I know what’ll cheer you up” standing up, he pushed the coffee table back.

“What are you doing?” Alara asked.

“Well, I promised you that I’d do a cartwheel last night didn’t I?” Ed grinned.

“Wait, you were serious?” Alara asked.

“Totally,” he grinned. Shrugging off his uniform jacket, he tossed it aside and then, swinging his arms back and forth, took a breath “OK,” he rubbed his hands together “right, here we go”

Taking a step back, he bent down, wobbling in a hunched over, crab-like pose for a moment, and then he promptly crumpled to the floor.

“Ooh!” Alara smothered her laugh as she hurried over to him “are you OK?”

“Fine,” Ed groaned as he rolled over up onto his knees “well, everything but my pride anyway,” he winced “that’s the last time I try to impress a girl”

“Hey,” Alara was suddenly kneeling in front of him “I’m impressed” she told him softly.

“Yeah?” he asked, equally as softly.

“Yeah,” she nodded. Feeling bold, she reached out, looping her arms around his neck, pulling him close. In this position they were at eye-level with one another, her forehead resting against his as her fingers softly stroked at the back of his neck.

Pulling back, she held up one hand, fingers splayed, as if displaying them for him. Reaching out, she gently plucked a coffee mug off the table. Curling her fingers around it, she slowly crumpled it into a ball. Rolling it around in her palm, she easily smoothed it into a nearly-perfect sphere, holding it up to the light between her thumb and forefinger.

“You’re really OK with this, Ed?” she asked softly.

Smirking, Ed reached out, gently plucking the sphere from her hand and lightly tossing it into the air and then catching it, grinning as he rolled it along his hand before palming it, and then did a bit of sleight of hand, opening and showing her his empty hand. Grin widening, he reached out behind her ear and held up the ball.

Laughing, Alara took it back from him.

“I guess that’s a ‘yes’, huh?” she grinned.

“A big ‘yes’, yep, totally,” Ed nodded “you know…,” he began “pickles aren’t really a ‘dinner’ food,” he pointed out “they’re more of a snack”

“Pizza” Alara stated.

“Pizza?” Ed repeated “for a romantic first date dinner? Yeah, yeah, sure, why not?” grinning, he pushed himself upright, pulling her up with him as they made their way to the synthesizer and ordering pizza by the slice.

Settling down on the sofa again, Ed threw an arm across the back of the sofa, behind her.

“Problem?” he asked when she looked at him curiously. Smiling shyly, she shook her head and, after quickly shrugging off her own uniform jacket, leaned into his side “Hawaiian pizza, huh?” he asked, nodding to the slice she was currently nibbling on.

“I like it,” she nodded “you don’t?” she wondered as she finished off the slice.

“I don’t ‘dislike’ it,” he began “but I can take it or leave it,” he shrugged “hey, how about a movie?” he suggested.

“That sounds nice,” she nodded, suddenly yawning “mm, sorry,” she apologized “those two idiot ambassadors really wore me out” she explained.

“Hey, no need to apologize,” he laughed “they’re wearing me out too,” shifting, he pulled her closer “c’mere, rest” he urged.

“ _Hmm…_ ” she murmured.

In seconds, she’d fallen into a light doze, and Ed was content to finally give into temptation and run his fingers—the ones not holding the pizza—through her long dark hair, earning a soft, happy sigh from her.

“Comfy?” Ed asked softly.

“ _Uh-huh_ ” she murmured.

“Good” he said softly.

“ _Security to Lt. Kitan_ ”

Eyes snapping open, Alara surged upright, the sudden motion sending Ed tumbling to the floor.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” she roared, lunging for her jacket and slapping the comm “this had better be good!!”

“ _Chief, the ambassadors are having a stand-off in mess hall again,_ ” came the nervous reply “I think you’d better get the Captain down here”

Sighing, Alara glanced over at Ed, blinking as if she was suddenly realizing that he was now on the floor. Rubbing at her forehead, she sighed.

“We’ll be right there” she answered, ending the call.

“Never a dull day, huh?” Ed chuckled as they shrugged on their uniform jackets….

******

After the second stand-off, Ed had had enough of the ambassadors and their antics and had, with the Union’s full support, unceremoniously thrown them off the ship, the delegates’ shuttles being escorted out of Union space by two heavy-cruisers.

Rubbing at his temples as he slowly walked away from the shuttle bay, he felt a gentle touch at his arm, Alara easily taking his weight as he tiredly slumped against her as she helped him to his quarters.

“You know,” he began as he sank down onto the sofa “we never did answer the question if dinner worked out or not” he pointed out.

Smiling softly, Alara leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. Pulling back, she smirked at his startled expression.

“Is that a good answer?” she asked.

“That’s a _very_ good answer” he nodded, grinning shyly.

“Good,” she nodded. She stepped back “I should probably…,” she gestured at the doors “you know”

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Ed nodded “yeah, go, get some sleep,” he encouraged “hey,” he called out after her “how about tomorrow we try again?” he suggested.

Smiling, she nodded.

“I’d like that” she grinned.

“Cool” Ed grinned.

“Cool” she ginned back…

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Well that's it! Hope everybody liked it. If you did, let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
